Brava Valentine by Adriana Trigiani has a very likeable heroine, a fast-moving plot, and a moving love story. In this sequel to Very Valentine, Valentine has to cope with a new set of problems and a new romance. She is now in charge of designing shoes at her family’s custom shoe-making business but her grandmother has put her brother, Alfred, in charge of the finances. Valentine finds her brother difficult to relate to so this is a trial for her. She also finds out that she has relations who she didn’t know about and decides to meet them.
Valentine misses her grandmother, who now lives in Italy, very much. She liked living with her and working for her. Now she feels extremely alone. However, there are compensations. Gabriel, her gay best friend, renovates her apartment and moves in to keep her company. Valentine still has the friendship of June, her colleague, who provides her with helpful advice.
Valentine’s Family Secrets
When Valentine looks through her grandmother’s old family photos she discovers that her grandfather had a brother who she didn’t know about. She finds out that his descendents live in Argentina and also run a shoe company. She talks to Roberta, her new relation, on the phone and decides to visit.
Her trip is also for business reasons – she may get her new line of shoes made by Roberta’s shoe company instead of China. When she arrives Roberta tells her the story of the family feud and she also discovers that her new family is very different. This causes trouble with her snobbish brother-in-law, Charles, who wants to avoid the new relations.
Valentine’s Travels
In Brava Valentine, Valentine travels to Italy and Argentina. The passages set in these countries are very descriptive. It is possible to easily imagine the cobblestoned streets of the small town of Arezzo and the snow making it into an even more picturesque setting. Trigiani manages to make Valentine’s grandmother’s wedding in Arezzo very romantic and amusing at the same time when Valentine is disturbed by her niece, Chiara, on the verge of going to bed with her new Italian boyfriend, Gianluca.
Argentina is also an exotic setting. Here Valentine stays in an expensive hotel with beautiful gardens. Trigiani describes the wealthy houses with their tropical gardens that Valentine passes on the way to Roberta’s factory. She also makes the reader hungry with her description of the tasty Argentinian dishes that she eats at Roberta’s place.
The Love Story in Brava Valentine
Valentine is recovering from a failed romance at the beginning of Brava Valentine but she soon realises that she is keen on Gianluca. Gainluca is a handsome, older widower. Gianlucca seems too good to be true at the beginning – he falls in love with Valentine very quickly and writes beautiful letters to her from Italy.
Their romance is headed for friction, however, when Gianluca surprises her in Argentina. Valentine starts to put her business interests first and Gianluca becomes upset. She realises that she has many lessons to learn before she is ready for love. Can Gianluca and Valentine work things out? You will have to read the book to find this out.
Brava Valentine by Adriana Trigiani is highly recommended reading. It is a light novel but it does have some depth. The cracking pace, likeable hero and heroine, and excellent writing mean that Brava Valentine is much better than most ‘chick-lit’ romances.
Sources
Trigiani, Adriana. Brava Valentine, Harper Collins, New York, 2010.
Lisa Sanderson - Lisa has been a freelance-writer for many years. She used to write for the topic, British Social History, for Suite 101 under the ...
Join the Conversation